Pro Dairy Producers Foundation funds the urgent needs of the dairy

Pro Dairy Producers Foundation funds the urgent needs of the dairy

Juneau, WI.— The Professional Dairy Producers Foundation (PDPF) awards grants to non-profit organizations that share the Foundation’s passion and vision for education in dairy communities. Grant dollars are available to those organizations with unique ideas that build producer professionalism and maintain public trust in what happens on dairy farms.

PDPF has made its funding decisions for education projects for dairy producers and their communities. The Foundation is proud to award the following grants for the Spring Grant Cycle:

The Calving Corner through the Center for Dairy Excellence Foundation of Pennsylvania. The Calving Corner is a full-scale dairy cow birthing center that will be unveiled at the 2018 Pennsylvania Farm Show. The project will use the dairy calving experience to educate more than half a million attendees about dairy farm practices. It provides a unique platform to engage visitors and captivate them with the calving experience, while educating them on how dairy farm families care for and nurture their animals to ensure consistent, high quality, healthy dairy products each and every day.

Peninsula Pride Farms, Inc. is working with agencies and industry to reduce nutrient, sediment and pathogen loss to ground and surface water in the Southern Door and Kewaunee Counties. The initiative works with farmers to implement conservation practices that are protective of ground and surface water. Peninsula Pride Farms will continue to develop and expand information and education programs for farmers and their community.

The 2018 Dairy Winter Management Series by the North Carolina Dairy Producers Association (NCDPA) will focus on professionalizing the family dairy business by assessing operational processes, activity-based accounting and management. The case study approach will engage participants’ management and leadership skills in real farm scenarios. The goal is to increase the management capacity and professionalism of North Carolina’s dairy producers.

Lafayette Ag Stewardship Alliance (LASA) is a new farmer-led, nonprofit organization committed to faithful and sustainable stewardship of the natural resources in Lafayette County, WI. The grant will help LASA continue its aggressive but critical campaign toward progressive agriculture practices that are protective of water quality. LASA plans to utilize field days, annual meetings and organization meetings to increase the knowledge base of its members. In so doing, members will grow professionally and be positioned to continue their farming legacy.

Badger Partners in Health and Safety (BPHS), a program of the University of Wisconsin-System. This outreach program will feature basic health care services for dairy workers. The project will provide education and resources to decrease the risk of communicable and chronic diseases in rural communities. BPHS is a collaboration of health professionals, dairy producers, and community leaders that utilizes the One Health approach to strengthen the dairy industry in Wisconsin.

Wisconsin Center for Agriculture and Environmental Resources (WiCAER) assists farmer leadership through watershed education and information. Farmer-led watershed groups as a method to understand and improve the impact of agriculture on water quality, have become popular. WiCAER is designed to help and support farmer led watershed initiatives understand the goals and objectives of regional watershed programs.

The next granting period begins now, with grant applications due December 1, 2017. Organizations may apply for grants of up to $5,000. For grant criteria and an application package, visit www.dairyfoundation.org.